1. Today is the Nativity of Mary! We have a fun day planned to celebrate the birth of Mary. Avila is all dressed in blue and ready to spend the day in honor of our blessed Mother. I'll post pics tomorrow. In the meantime, I leave you with a few quotes about Mary:
"If anyone does not wish to have Mary Immaculate for his Mother, he will not have Christ for his Brother."
- Saint Maximilian Kolbe
“As mariners are guided into port by the shining of a star, so Christians are guided to heaven by Mary"
-Saint Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church
“Let us run to her, and, as her little children, cast ourselves into her arms with a perfect confidence.”
-Saint Francis de Sales, Doctor of the Church
2. A video of Avila telling the story of Jesus Feeding the 5 Thousand. She learned it from one of her Bible shows:
3. Speaking of Avila learning things, we've figured out that she has a photographic memory. She can see or hear something once and it's burned into her brain. For example, she can tell me what gift Max got when he was a baby based on looking at certain tissue paper. And on our way to a football dinner last week (of which we didn't talk about before hand and hadn't been to since she was 1 1/2) she told me she was excited to have pasta. How the heck did she remember that? Its kind of cool, but it also means she gets bored really easily. I have to constantly be thinking of new ways to keep her stimulated. Plus we have to be really careful of what we say and talk about because her little ears are always listening...
4. Avila was looking at the story of Abraham and Isaac yesterday in her Bible. It showed a picture of Isaac all tied up on an altar and Abraham with a knife ready to sacrifice him. She got all confused and asked me, "Mom, is he going to chop him?" How do you explain something like that?
5. I kind of love this rain. It gives me all sorts of excuses to have lazy days inside doing crafts and listening to music and making lots of (decaf) coffee. Plus, it's a good reminder that the holiday season is right around the corner!
6. Although I don't always listen to just Christian music, I realize the value and atmosphere it creates. When we listen to secular music I sometimes feel a little "empty" (kind of hard to explain...) but when we put on Christian music I feel happier. I still like various secular artists and will still listen to them, but this feeling is a reminder that Jesus must be present in every aspect of our life - especially the media we bring into it. For media is a powerful (subconscious) tool and can have an affect on us, whether we notice it or not.
7. An update on Max's sleep training. The first two days he cried upwards of 25 minutes for a few of his naps, but after that it's been smooth sailing. It takes about 5 minutes to nurse/rock him until he's tired and then he falls right asleep when I lay him down. He takes two 2-2 1/2 hour naps and one 1 hour nap every day and sleeps 12-13 hours at night (with one or sometimes no feeding). I kind of feel like I'm neglecting him because he's sleeping so much! But he is so happy and mom and dad are happy, too. Plus, sister doesn't get neglected because I have to spend all day putting her brother to sleep. Again, a great decision for our family and our situation.
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